State NFL roundup: Jameis Winston back for Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers went with the hot hand for their NFL game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday. But it appears likely Jameis Winston will be getting his old job back next time out.

Winston had been the Bucs' starting quarterback since being selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. But the former Hueytown High School standout missed the first three games of the 2018 campaign while on an NFL-imposed suspension for violating the league's Personal Conduct Policy

With Winston out, journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick stepped in and became the first player in NFL history to pass for at least 400 yards in three consecutive games.

On Sunday, Tampa Bay kept Fitzpatrick in the starting lineup and lost 48-10 to the Bears. While Chicago quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was throwing five touchdown passes in the first half, Fitzpatrick completed 9-of-18 passes for 126 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.

Winston made his 2018 debut on the opening series of the second half and went the rest of the way. He completed 16-of-20 passes for 145 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

"We put Jameis in a terrible situation today, and I told him that," Tampa Bay coach Dirk Koetter said of inserting Winston in the game with the Bucs trailing by 35 points. "I told him right off the bat at halftime that we were putting him in a bad situation. And I knew Jameis would go in and give us everything he had, and he did."

During his postgame press conference, Koetter was asked if Winston had shown enough to get his starting job back.

"Probably, but we'll worry about that on another day," Koetter said. "Ryan Fitzpatrick didn't lose this game for us either. Don't anybody think -- if this is on any one person, it's got to be on me, OK? So if you're going to put one person on there, put it on me."

Winston was among the 36 former Alabama high school and college players (that didn't play for Alabama or Auburn) who got on the field on the fourth Sunday of the NFL's 2018 season.